Selfish Knitting Season

Hi, Lauren here! This is my first post on the Amy Herzog Designs blog, and I’m so excited! Now that Christmas has come and gone, I’m here to talk about the approach of selfish knitting season.

This is my version of “happy sweater face.”

If you’re anything like me, you don’t decide to knit holiday gifts until far too late in the season. Somehow you find yourself scrambling to get everything done in time, and on December 26th, you swear to never, ever do handmade gifts again.

When November comes back around, I conveniently forget this promise. When it comes down to the wire, I’m once again knitting like the wind to finish a mitten thumb or a button band (those who follow us on Twitter have seen me whine about – no, discuss! – both of those in the past week).

That’s what I love about the new year, though. It’s time to knit for me again. Every year I cast on a sweater on January 1st – it’s a fun way to start fresh. If you’re doing the same, join me in our CustomFit KAL thread, where we’re swatching away in preparation for the new year. Selfish knitting season is almost here!

Here’s the yarn I’m turning into a CustomFit sweater ASAP in 2014!

To celebrate the exciting year we’ve had at Amy Herzog Designs, we’re throwing an online party the last five days of the year. We’re just getting started on a few forms of social media, but I’ve already had great conversations with folks over Twitter and seen some gorgeous knitwear photos on Instagram. We’d like you to join the party!

Each day from December 27th through 30th, we’ll be giving away one CustomFit or Amy Herzog Designs pattern (your choice!), and each contest will take place on one of our social media platforms. On December 31st, we’ll gather everything we learned here on the AHD blog. Each day, come back to this post for details on how to enter to win your free pattern! (I can’t give away all the details ahead of time, can I?) We’ll post information on how to enter the evening before a contest begins.

Here’s an outline of our schedule:

December 27InstagramMake, Wear, Love
Post a photo of yourself or someone you love wearing a handknit on Instagram.

Tell us what you or the subject loves about this piece.

Important: Use hashtag #makewearlove or mention @makewearlove so we can see your entry!

Knitting is so often social. We gather in groups, get feedback from friends, learn the basics from our circles.

Comment on our Facebook post, which will go up the morning of the 29th, and tell us:

Who’s a friend that inspires your knitting? Does she make to-die-for lace? Is she a colorwork fiend? Did her sweaters make you excited to start knitting your own clothing? Tell us about your knitting friends: mention one here and win a CF or AHD pattern for each of you!

Tell us: what’s first on your needles now that selfish knitting season is almost here? Retweet us & answer to win the CustomFit or AHD pattern of your choice!

Use @makewearlove so we can find your tweet!

December 31
Right here on the blog!

Amy, Jackie, and I will be spending some time thinking about our knitting intentions for 2014. I’ve learned from Amy and CustomFit how to put thought into a sweater rather than fumbling around for the next set of free needles – so I’ll be thinking over what knitting choices I’ll be making in the coming year.

We’d like to round up your knitting intentions for 2014 here on the AHD blog. If you’d like, send us a link to your blog post, tweet, Pinterest board – however you’re posting your goals and intents. On December 31st, we’ll post links here along with our thoughts going into 2014.

Thanks for playing along with us! I’m excited to meet even more of you and continue to have these great conversations about making clothes we love.

Lauren

15 thoughts on “Selfish Knitting Season”

Hi, Lauren! I like the social media tour giveaway initative 🙂 I’m currently knitting my first ever pullover using a customfit pattern. I’m not counting the cardigan I made before, which was just for practice and is made of terrible synthetic yarn. My knitting plans consist of working one project at a time. I also sew, and I know what happens when you shop for or start several projects at once… The pullover is going great so far! I’ll be sure to post photos 🙂

Super idea! And I’m reminded again to think of knitting as adding to my wardrobe, not my pile of unworn knitted things. And my end of year resolution (I didn’t wait for the new year), is to visit the frog pond until I’ve found every UFO that I no longer love or want, and repurpose that yarn! Every time I find something headed for the frog pond, I find myself saying something like: “Hey, THIS yarn should work well for Amy’s Whateverpattern” or “Custom Fit for this yarn.”

Love the motivation for 2014! I finished the second sock for DH well before Christmas eve (thanks to business trip knitting!) then I cast on a very “mindless knitting” worsted weight shawl just before Christmas so that I had something to keep my hands busy during the actual holidays. I spent Boxing Day unearthing stashed yarns I plan to knit this year and began swatching. I hope to make my selections by New Year’s, as well as finishing one more WIP (only seams & front bands required). And yes, it is time to resurrect my blog.

How fun to see your friendly face here, Lauren! Would there also be a way to incorporate Ravelry into your social media blitz? I don’t participate in any of those other platforms ’cause I already spend too much time on Ravelry! 😉

I don’t participate in any of those social media sites – no time for that and knitting, too. I tried to post pics of my custom fit KAL pattern, but couldn’t figure out how to do it. So, I’m participating in the KAL but nobody else knows it! I love the Custom Fit pattern. So far, I can tell that it is going to FIT! It really adds momentum when the knitting is going well.

My knitting intentions/resolutions for 2014 are to finish my WIP’s and then tackle my first pair of socks. So far I’ve been too chicken but I have to try at least one pair, right? After that, I also would very much like to make a custom fit sweater…
Can’t wait to read what your intentions are! 🙂